Billie Marten – Dog Eared

Dog Eared is a raw and reflective return to Billie Marten’s famed jazz-infused indie-folk. Journeying between stories and emotions, Marten’s songwriting is personal but universal. Feeling opens with a sunny ode to innocence, nature and memory as we're plunged into a new era: 'Sweep the leaves and cut the air'. The forest folk atmosphere is momentarily paused in Crown, where whirring drums meet gentle synths. An ordinary memory of her cat in the garden is translated into ethereal sunlit melodies.

In No Sudden Changes, she reminds a lover of her presence: 'I am the dust in the breeze / I am the tugging at your sleeves'. The initially gentle Goodnight Moon blurs memories of a relationship like a film reel. Jazz infusions and windchimes are scattered specks of magic. Mellow synths in The Glass give way to whirring distortion and sparkly windchimes as Marten's voice commands, despite its feather-light frequency. Swing signals a final celebration of nostalgia. Despite initially overwhelming industrial chimes and heavy bass, the swooping fiddles mirror whimsical playground joy. Like its name, Billie Marten's fifth album is one to be dog-eared – revisited, rediscovered, and cherished.

Listen to: Goodnight Moon, Crown, Planets